Guardian Angels The Beginning
by Rohtua
Summary: The story of the how the Guardian Angels began.
1. CHAPTER 1 The Mission

'Hello," she said as she shook his hand "My name Amathyst."

"Dragan," he replied happily. As he observed her flawless figure and wonderfully sized breast he could not help but smile. Of course, most every figure in Paragon city was perfect, since super heroes are always in top physical condition. However, there was something special about Amathyst. Perhaps it was those powerful eyes peaking over the mysterious purple veil. Maybe it was the artistry in her hairstyle, or maybe the way her skin looked inside her sleeveless purple blouse. Dragan could not tell what was different about Amathyst, but he promised himself he would take time to investigate. The thought alone made him feel warm inside.

"Shadow, why didn't you tell me she was so lovely?" Dragan flirted in the most charming voice he could muster.

"She fights as well as she looks." Shadow's Claw replied. He met Amathyst by chance in Perez Park and he liked her immediately. Certainly, she was the most beautiful hero he had ever seen. However, she was also one of the best fighters. Therefore, when Dragan asked him if there was anyone else worthy to join the team, Amathyst was the first word out of his mouth. Shadow's Claw knew that although the beauty of her body made him feel alive, it would be the swinging of her sword that would keep him that way.

"Thank you both," Amathyst said with a smile. "But before you two go on with your praise you need to know that I will only join this team if my friend can join too."

"Sure!" Dragan replied, "If she looks half as good as you do, we'll be in business."

"Oh well I think HE looks even better than I do!" she laughed. "His name is Sayber, my boyfriend."

Dragan laughed at his own embarrassment as cut his eyes at his demon friend, Shadow's claw. "Shadow knew all along," he thought to himself. "Oh well, no matter what, this is going to be an interesting team," he consoled himself.

"I'll invite, Sayber at once," said Dragan. "Amathyst, welcome to the team!"

It was not long before all eight heroes had assembled in the meeting room across the street of Perez Park's main entrance. Dragan was the team leader. He wore a burgundy and brown metal suit, which gave him great protection from enemy attacks. Electric claws produced by the suit were his means of attack. The second in command and close friend of Dragan was Eclypse. He wore a blue and white cyber suit designed to generate power for his powerful rifle.

Shadow's Claw was once an ordinary man who had been possessed by a powerful demon known as Shadow Mane. Now free of his evil master, the claw possessed a dark black skin, which protected and healed him. It also produced the death dealing claws for which he was named. Frost Mourne, a lovely blue-skinned female hero, has the power to control Ice. She could easily freeze whole groups of enemies making them helpless.

Blue Electra, a short cute female hero, possessed the ability to fire bolts of electricity through the air. Lord Freyr was a god who had the ability to heal the wounds of heroes and to increase the accuracy of their attacks. The tall red haired god from Normandy could also stop villains in their tracks, draining their life force.

Amathyst and Sayber were both sword-welding heroes. Sayber possessed super reflects making him all but impossible to hit. Amathyst's offensive skill with the sword was balanced by super tough skin, which made her almost invincible. Attacks that would devastate another hero would merely knock her down.

The eight mingled in the meeting room briefly, before Dragan presented the specifics of the mission. Shadow's Claw knew most of the heroes there. He was good friends with Dragan and Eclypse having done two missions with them previously. He had also met Frost Mourne, of whom he was rather fond. Since he was once the servant of a Hell Bourne demon, Shadows Claw could really appreciate any woman that could keep him cool. He was closest however, to Lord Freyr and Amathyst. He was very happy to be in their company again.

Amathyst knew Freyr well and she spent most of her time with him as well as with Shadow and of course Sayber. Sayber was a hero's hero, strong, confident, fearless, and in Amathyst's opinion very cute. To Sayber, Amathyst was all a man could ever want. She was smart, brave, powerful and drop dead gorgeous! Not to mention the fact that he loved her; he reminded himself as he mingled, that he was the luckiest man alive.

Soon the social fun was over, and the time for the real fun had arrived. Dragan briefed the team on the specifics of the mission. His contact, Hank Griffin a former news reporter, gave Dragan the mission. Now Dragan played the tape that contained the mission briefing.

"Hordes of Circle of Thorn minions and bosses are gathering in the center of Pere:z Park." Griffin said. "They also have kidnapped people in record numbers, apparently to perform some type of special ritual, which has never been done in the past. We want you to penetrate Perez to this point." He said as a marked map of Perez flashed over the screen. "Find out what type of ritual they are performing and stop them. Be very careful! The Circle of Thorns has become more organized than they ever have been. Thus, you will notice changes in the way that they fight. If they are allowed to complete the ritual who knows, what the consequences will be! Good Luck."

"Now you know what I know," Dragan encouraged.

"That's not very much," Freyr, joked to Shadow. "Uh that's not very much to go on is it," Freyr now said openly to the team.

"What's to know?" Eclypse answered, "We kick some C.O.T. ass!"

"I am looking forward to the penetration part myself." Sayber joked. He stood at attention. "I'm ready to penetrate, sir!"

The team all laughed and prepared for the mission.

Perez Park was one of the worst zones of all of Paragon City. The park was known for its beautiful pond located in the center of the zone. Rolling hills shaped the landscape in the three main clearings of the park. However, the park was truly dominated by two large wooded areas; it was the Perez forest that made the park a menace to heroes. The trees within the forest formed a canopy that was too thick to fly or jump through. It was full of twisting and turning passageways, none of which had ever been mapped. Worst of all, thick groups of enemies hid in every nook and cranny of the forest, making free movement impossible. The only way to move through woods was to fight ones way through the woods.

Two police drones protected the meeting room, where the heroes had gathered. Yet, the second they walked out the door they would be vulnerable. The main entrance to Perez was just across the street, but the heroes knew they would still have to face at least one group of Hellions before they entered it. The Hellions were little more than a simple street gang. Many of the minions armed themselves with bats or switchblades, but a few of the more important members had super powers.

As the heroes exited the meeting room, they immediately heard one of the Hellions signature battle cries...

"Let's kill the freaks!" the one power-welding member of the Hellion group cried out. He was the leader of a group of 17 Hellions. The Hellions all pulled out some sort of gun, except the leader who threw his arms in the air and summoned fire from his hands. Frost Mourne however froze the entire group before any of their weapons could be of any use.

"Damn, she got all of them!" Dragan exclaimed as he ran toward the defenseless enemies.

"Yeah," said Eclypse, "I almost feel sorry for them." Although the Hellions were immobilized, they would not stay that way for long. Sayber, Amathyst and Shadow's Claw quickly took out the flame-throwing boss, while the two blasters, Blue Electra and Eclypse, took down the minions. The team was able to defeat all 17 Hellions before one of them could escape Frost's Icy prison.

Once they crossed the main entrance they found another group of Hellions, this one would put up much more of a fight. Unlike the first group, these Hellions had not yet noticed the team of heroes. The group of 23 Hellions consisted of 18 minions, two bosses, each with the power to shoot fire, and three Hellion lieutenants, two armed with powerful shotguns, the other with a machine gun. Frost began the heroes attack by freezing 13 of the 18 minions and one of the shotgun using lieutenants, who had the title of Fallen Buckshot. Lord Freyr followed with an attack that slowly weakened all the Hellions that Frost Mourne had frozen. Immediately the remaining Hellions ran toward Frost. The two bosses ran toward her and caused their hands to burn as they prepared for their most deadly attack.

Before they could unleash their fire attacks, Sayber and Amathyst met the two bosses. The Sayber slashed one boss, Amathyst the other; immediately the two Hellions turned their attention away from Frost. Both of the Hellion bosses realized they had a much more personal threat. Amathyst's foe fired flame from his very hands, igniting the skin of the beautiful hero. She paused as she felt the pain of his assault. However, her determination was unaffected; it would take much, much more than this to stop her. She hacked and slashed the Hellion mercilessly as he too continued his fiery assault. The struggle seemed to last forever, though in reality only seconds had gone by. The Hellion grunted and fell to the ground as Amathyst stood above him, her flesh still ablaze. She was victorious!

The Hellion boss that faced Sayber fired flame from his hands at the sword-welding hero. Although he was less than three feet away from the boss, Sayber was able to dodge the attack and counter it by slashing the Hellion. Enraged the Hellion boss thrust both his arms in Sayber's direction. He was determined not to miss Sayber again. The hero's super reflexes allowed him to redirect the boss's arms with his sword, causing the evil flames to miss yet again. Again, Sayber repaid the boss's attack with a slash from his sword. The Hellion screamed more from frustration than from pain, although he was hurt badly. Desperate, He jumped toward Sayber. He was willing to take another blow, just to deliver some form of damage to Sayber. Sayber stabbed the Hellion, finishing him; but not before the flaming hands of the boss set him ablaze. Sayber was hurt, but he would live.

Shadow's Claw fired his favorite attack, focus, at the unfrozen Lieutenant. The shadowy hero slashed the air in front of him with such power and "focus" that it created a destructive wave, which flew through the air, slashed the Hellion, and knocked him to the ground. Before the Shotgun carrying, Fallen Buckshot, could rise, twice the scrapper had slashed him. The Hellion fired his gun into the chest of Shadow's Claw. The hero paused as the shock of the attack hit him. The Hellion stood and aimed his gun again. However, the recovered hero slashed the Hellion 2 more times before he could fire. The Buckshot grunted and fell defeated. Shadow's Claw smiled at his victory, just as he felt the sharp pain of a knife in his back. He turned to see a Hellion minion, who this time slashed the hero across his chest with his knife. The Hellion heard a _shhlick _sound as Shadow's claw extracted his claws again. In three attacks, this minion too grunted in defeat.

Eclypse and Blue Electra joined forces against the machine gun carrying Hellion who held the title, Fallen Gunner. The first shot from Eclypse knocked down the Fallen Gunner. Blue Electra followed with an attacked the shocked the Hellion even as he lay on the ground. As he rose, the two fired again, taking him out. By that time however, two of remaining four minions approached. Dragan had already defeated the other two and was coming to the aid of the blasters.

However, Dragan's help was not needed. Eclypse shot one of the approaching minions and knocked him down. Frost Mourne froze the other minion in his tracks. Lord Freyr attacked the frozen minion with a blast of radiation and defeated him, while Blue Electra made short work of the minion that had been knocked down.

The team paused briefly to rest from the battle and Lord Freyr healed the team. Lord Freyr's heal was just to help lower the heroes' heal time. All heroes healed at a much faster rate than did a regular person. In just a few minutes, the fire burned skin of Amathyst and Sayber returned to normal. Since Shadow's Claw a healing rate that was faster than even most heroes had, his stab and cut wounds disappeared in seconds. The team was pleased with themselves.

"That was pretty good," Dragan commented.

"Yes, Good Job everyone." Blue Electra agreed.

Once everyone had healed, the team continued through the hilly clearing of Perez. Not far from their last battle, they found a group of Clockwork. The clockwork were a race of evil robots who's minions resembled wind up toys, thus the name, Clockwork. The Clockwork were considered a much more dangerous group than the Hellions because minion and boss alike possessed the power to shoot electricity. Nevertheless, the metal bodies of the clockwork were just a vulnerable to the steel of Amathyst and Sayber. The team easily defeated them and entered the wooded area of the park. There they found their prey.

"Finally," Dragan sighed, "The Circle of Thorns!" The Circle of Thorns were magic welding criminals. The bosses and lieutenants, both called Mages, had the power to attack the very minds of their enemies. This first group consisted of only 1 boss, 2 lieutenants, and 12 minions; it was an easy battle for the team.

The next three battles went as expected. The number strength of foes grew each time. By the third battle, nothing was easy. Yet, the team grew closer with each battle. Amathyst, who knew she could count on Shadow, Sayber and Freyr, now found herself back to back with Blue Electra or Frost from time to time. Freyr found himself trusting that Dragan would get there "just in time" should enemies start to close in on him. Shadow's Claw would turn his back foes, confident that Blue Electra would be able to watch his back. This team chemistry and confidence made them hard to beat even by the ever-increasing numbers of Circle of Thorns. After five more battles, the team found themselves deep in the Perez forest, and close to their target destination.

"From what we can tell, if we keep straight on this path we will reach the target area," reported Blue Electra.

"Have you guys noticed anything strange about these C.O.T.'s lately?" Lord Freyr asked the group.

"Yeah," Shadow's Claw answered immediately.

"You mean how many there are?" Eclypse asked.

"No, I mean usually when you find a group of enemies...any group of enemies; they are usually just standing there. They only attack if a hero gets too close to one and they get scared or angry or something. Well, the last two groups especially that last one seemed to be, I don't know, ready for us." Freyr explained

"That last group almost seemed to be searching for us." Shadow's claw added.

"Well, I'm glad this next group isn't looking for us." Frost Mourne said, her voice trembling. The eight heroes focused their attention straight down the path ahead to see a group of more than 50 Circle of Thorn criminals.

"Shit!" Dragan exclaimed. "There are only eight of us!"

"There's no way we can beat them all," said Frost.

"I guess we can fight our way back out of here and get more help," suggested Sayber. The worries of the team were quickly interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, many footsteps. Someone was coming, fast!

"More heroes?" Shadow's Claw said optimistically.

The eight heroes, now friends, looked in horror as they saw how wrong Shadow's claw was. A group of Circle of Thorns that was even larger than the one they saw in front of them, had found them and was now attacking from behind them! If they ran, they would run straight into another group of fifty or more Circle of Thorns. Their only hope was to stand their ground and fight.


	2. CHAPTER 2 Sacrifice

**CHAPTER 2**

"We can't beat them! Sayber shouted. "We must run through them to the other side!" The eight heroes tried to steady their minds as fifty-eight members of the Circle of Thorns ran toward them.

Sayber and Shadow's Claw instinctively gathered beside on either side of Amathyst, forming somewhat of a triangle. The Circle of Thorns seemed to be in a type of formation themselves. They ran toward the heroes in rows of ten. The first two rows consisted of four Spectral Knights, ghostly looking enemies that flew through the air and attacked using spells, surrounded by three Thorn Wielders, minions that resembled ancient wizards and that attacked by casting spells, on both sides. The third row had eighteen foes: eight Mages in the middle surrounded by seven Spectral Daemon Lord lieutenants, huge demon-like ghosts.

All eight bosses attacked Frost with their mind spells as soon as they were within range. The beautiful blue-skinned ice controller grabbed her head and shouted in pain. The next attack, no matter how weak would kill her. Amathyst, Sayber and Shadow's Claw jumped over the first row of attackers and ran past the second row in order to take down the bosses and prevent them from finishing Frost Mourne. Each of the three scrappers landed an attack on one of the center Mages, defeating him instantly. Next, they each attacked a different Mage desperately trying to divert their attention away from Frost Mourne.

Still the Mages had accomplished their goal, Frost would be able to freeze no one until her head cleared, so the entire force of 58 was able to attack. Lord Freyr healed Frost just as the Thorn Wielders and Spectral Knights reached their firing range. They too fired at the screaming controller. Many of the minions' attacks hit their mark, and again Frost Mourne was a heartbeat away from death.

"If they take out Frost we're all dead!" Dragan shouted, "Eclypse, agro them!" He commanded.

"Ten four!" Eclypse replied happily. He cocked his gun and fired his most destructive armament, an in cinerary bomb that literally caused fire to fall from the sky burning all foes within range. His aim was perfect all twenty minions in the first two rows were set ablaze. They predictably turned their attention away from Frost and attacked Eclypse, all twenty of them. Lord Freyr tried to heal Eclypse, Dragan and Blue Electra attacked the twenty minions, hoping to take some of the heat off Eclypse. However, nothing could be done. Eclypse could not be saved. He fell to the ground dead.

Dragan was too upset to scream. His best friend had just died to help them. He slashed the C.O.T. minions with all his rage. He had defeated four of the Thorn wielders. Yet, the minions had done some damage to him as well, already his eyes blurred from fatigue and injury. He prepared to join his friend.

Blue Electra had defeated four minions as well, but she too had been hurt badly. She figured it was just a matter of time before she shared Eclypse's fate. She fought back the hopelessness inside her. If she were to die in this battle, she vowed to die with honor!

Lord Freyr had been using all his strength to heal the team, but even the powers of a god have their limits. Lord Freyr was tiring rapidly; he would not be able to help much longer. To make matters worst, now two minions began attacking him. He resisted the instinct to defend himself. I must heal the team as long as I can; he thought to himself, no mater what!

Amathyst, Sayber and Shadow's claw, battled fearlessly in the heart of the enemy group. They had defeated six of the eight bosses, but they had paid a heavy price. They knew they could not take much more, for the three of them had kept the thirty-eight foes from the last three rows from overwhelming the others. Amathyst knew that the three of them could escape. All they need to do was to jump over two rows of villains and run like the wind. They had only attacked in order to help save Frost, but as she looked at the situation now, it seemed nothing could save her, or any of the others. Her heart ached for them, but she reassured herself that, if they stayed they would all die.

"Let's run for it!" Sayber said apparently reading his girl friend's mind.

Shadow's claw nodded as he finished off another Spectral Knight. He looked sadly toward his friend Lord Freyr. He and Lord had joined this team together. He contemplated the thought that they would never team again. Then he looked toward Frost. She was still shouting and grabbing her head in pain, the spell of the bosses still held her entranced. He turned away from her; he did not want to remember her like that. As his eyes searched for Dragan, they met the eyes of Lord Freyr.

Lord Freyr could see the hurt and worry in his friends eyes. He knew what the look in Shadow's face meant. It meant they were leaving him. He swallowed any feelings of fear and betrayal and simply smiled at his friend. He was saying goodbye. Lord Freyr used what must have been the last bit of strength he had to heal the team one more time. Shadow's claw felt the warmth of healing as many of his wounds were healed. His friend was making sure he would make it out alive.

"Go!" Shadow's Claw demanded Amathyst. "You two get out of here! But I can't leave them," he said. He ran and jumped what remained of the first two rows of enemies and landed between Lord Freyr and the two attacking foes.

Damn! Amathyst thought. Why did he have to do that? She had finally made herself ok with the thought of leaving the team; she was not ready for this. She ran to help Shadow's Claw, or the very least to drag him out of there. Sayber followed her, as she expected. I guess we'll all die together she groaned.

"Run!" Lord Freyr fussed. "You can still make it!" he said to Shadow's Claw who had defeated one of the two minions. "You fool, we're dead!"

"No, we're not!" Frost Mourne said weakly as she finally awoke from the Mage's spell. She shook her head once to clear any lingering dizziness and then summoned all the power she could. The most foes she had ever frozen at with one attack was 22, and those foes were much weaker than the ones that stood before her today. However, Eclypse had died to protect her, and Shadow's Claw and the rest of her friends were going to die, if not for her. She refused to let their sacrifices be in vain. She poured her heart and soul into one attack and froze every last C.O.T. in the area, all 37 of them!

Exhausted she fell; Shadow's Claw caught her before she hit the ground. She looked up at him and gave a tired sigh. "You goof." She scolded. "Get out of here before they get out of the ice."

"I will," he replied warmly. "Thanks to you, we all will."

"Come on! We don't have much time!" Lord Freyr reminded.

The team gathered themselves and headed away from the area. Amathyst slowed her pace to speak privately with Shadow's Claw for a moment. He was sure she was angry with him for choosing to die instead of leaving with her and Sayber. He was somewhat mad with himself as well. It was his fault that Ama and Sayber were even in this mess he thought. Amathyst smiled and took the former demon's fears away.

"Would you like to join my super group?" She asked happily. She really liked Shadow's Claw, even more than she herself must have realized, she thought. He went back to die, and I followed him she scolded herself. Maybe as a member, she laughed, he'll come with us the next time we should go.

"Love," Shadow's claw replied happily, "I thought you'd never ask."

Dragan looked at the fallen body of his second in command and best friend. Eclypse had to know that his attack would cause the foes to kill him. Still, he did not hesitate to fire it. Dragan would miss him. Dragan watched as Eclypse's body faded away, as heroes did after death. He looked forward to a day when he might see his friend again and thank him for his noble sacrifice.

The seven remaining heroes ran through the frozen statues of their enemies to the next clearing. The hilly twisting paths of the woods quickly lead them out of their enemies' sight. However, the heroes knew that would not be enough. Those same villains had tracked them down earlier; no one thought they would give up now. However, the team needed a chance to rest a second and think. The worst thing the team could do is to run into another group in their weakened state.

"You guys go." Dragan commanded. "I'll stay here and hold them off."

"Dragan, that's suicide!" Shadow's Claw responded. "No one else dies today, man! OK!"

"Listen!" Dragan shouted, "They're coming. You know there are more enemies to fight on the way out of here. They are going to slow you down. If this group behind us catches up to you while you are fighting another group, it's over! Someone has to stay here just to slow them up...just a little. I'm the leader, so I'm picking me to do that."

"He's right, Shadow." Amathyst said as she touched her friends shoulder.

"It has been an honor serving with you, Shadow." Dragan said holding back his emotions. "It has been an honor serving with you all."

Blue Electra began to cry and hugged the brave leader.

"The honor has been mine," Shadow's Claw responded only after he was sure his sadness was under control. He had seen many terrible things in his life. He had even done many terrible things himself. As a minion of Shadow's Mane, he was virtually emotionless. On days like today, he wished he were emotionless again.

Amathyst, Sayber, Lord Freyr, and Frost Mourne also said their goodbyes. Then they hurriedly left their leader to his noble duty. They could hear him battle the C.O.T.s in the distance. There was no question of his death. The team took no time to mourn him, those enemies we probably still hunting them, and now they faced a group of twenty, standing in their exit path.

"You freeze them, Frost." Sayber suggested, "Well take out any that you miss and then run past this group."

"We can get past them alright," Frost Mourne, answered. "But when they get free they will probably join the other group in hunting for us."

"It doesn't matter how many are chasing us, just as long as none of them catch us!" The scrapper replied with a grin.

The group laughed in agreement. They needed to relieve some of the tension of the moment.

"K, Let's do this" said Shadow's Claw said. Frost Mourne used her ice controlling powers again, with excellent results. Only four foes were left unfrozen, but they gave the harden team no trouble at all. The confusing pathways of Perez Park began to confuse the team just a little, causing the team to split up accidentally for a moment.

"Well, maybe we've lost the Circle of Thorns." Lord Freyr joke, "Since we've definitely been able to lose each other!" The jokes and the laughter meant that the team was settling down. Hope had returned. However, the sight of 65 Circle of Thorn foes in the path leading out of the woods quickly broke their spirits.

"The Frost's attack alone won't be enough here." Amathyst said. "Any ideas?"

"Well," said Lord Freyr," If we hurry we can back track and start heading for the pond area. We can try to escape that way."

"But what about the Hydra," asked Frost Mourne? "If they are in the exit path we are dead meat."

"True," Lord Freyr returned, "But we know we can't go this way...who knows we could get lucky. Besides what other choice do we have?"

After a few worried looks between them, they decided to head for the pond. They ran back up the twisting path they had just come from. It did not take long before they found a path that they thought would lead toward the pond. Of course in Perez Park one could never be too certain. The team also heard the terrifying sound of the C.O.T., continuing to search and steadily getting closer. The heroes moved swiftly through the dark foggy trail of the woods. If they delayed at all, the evil that followed them would surely catch them.

"Shit!" Sayber screamed, "These bastards are everywhere!"

"Not good." Shadow's Claw said grimly.

"Oh my Gosh!"

"We're dead," Frost Mourne predicted.

"Well," Lord Freyr joked, "It's been fun guys. Painful, frightening and finally, FATAL, but fun none the less."

"What did we do to deserve this?" Blue Electra asked hopelessly. Directly in front of the team was a group of 52 C.O.T. villains, and they seemed to be ready to attack. Already the sound of the foes behind them was getting louder. They were surrounded again.

"I've had enough of this!" Frost Mourne said with the determination. She stepped in front of the disheartened team. "We're going through!" Once again, she mustered everything she had and dumped it all into one attack. The humid Perez Park air became chilly as she unleashed her powerful attack and froze many of the foes before them. She fainted from exhaustion, and fell into the arms of Shadow's Claw. He quickly threw her on his shoulder and helped his friends quickly finish off the 10 enemies that remained. They made good time through the woods now. In no time, they were far from the last battle site. Frost Mourne awoke but Shadow's claw continued to carry her until the team stopped again. There was another group of in front of them; this one had 50 villains in it.

"Give me a second to rest," Frost Mourne said. "And I'll freeze them again."

"This isn't right." Lord Freyr complained. "I have never seen the enemy in numbers like this. Something is really, really wrong here."

"What worries me is that they all seem to be looking for us," added Amathyst.

"Well, if I remember correctly, there might be one more group of enemies between us and the pond." Lord Freyr said. "After this group here of course."

"And if there are no Hydra." Blue Electra added.

"Ok, I'm ready," Frost Mourne, said as she stood from her rest. The team knew Frost would not be able to freeze as many as she had in the past, since she had not rested long enough. Freyr could heal her wounds, but he could not give her energy to use her powers. He could not undo the effects of fatigue, only time could do that. However, they did not have time to wait. If she could freeze half of them, the team could probably run past the others. Frost summoned her freezing powers once again, this time trapping 27 of the 50 foes in icy prisons.

As expected the 23 remaining Circle of Thorn members ran toward Frost Mourne. The other heroes all attacked the remaining foes in order to keep all of them from attacking Frost Mourne. The plan was that once the villains were all targeting different heroes, they could all run and escape. However, no attack made the villains change their target.

"Take them all out!" Amathyst ordered. The heroes fought with everything they had. They managed to kill ten of the circle in seconds, but there was nothing that could be done. Frost Mourne had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the 13 determined foes. Frost Mourne made up her mind that she would not turn her back to these bastards. She would go down fighting. She froze once more before the 12 remaining foes fired their various ranged attacks. Freyr's healing could not undo the damage quickly enough. She was dead.

Shadow's Claw watched Frost's body fall to the ground. A terrible emptiness filled him. He wished he could at least have held her as she died, although he knew the attack probably killed her instantly. He and the rest of the heroes had been trying to take the enemies' attention away from Frost Mourne, having failed there was nothing to do now but run.

"Now, kill the healer!" One of the Thorn Wielders shouted.

Several arrows and burn spells hit Lord Freyr in the back as he ran. The team ran down the path with blinding speed. A group of 15 Clockwork laid in their path, but with out Frost there was no way to fight them quickly enough to stay head of their pursuers. Sayber and Amathyst were in the lead; they simply ran through the robots. The both had to endure the powerful electric blasts of the mechanical villains, but they never slowed down. A few of the clockwork started to chase Sayber and Amathyst. Lord Freyr was right behind Sayber and Amathyst, fortunately for him the clockwork were attacking the two scrappers ahead of him. Thus, the already wounded healer passed through the clockwork with out taking much damage from them.

"Ok." Blue Electra said as she and Shadow's Claw paused before running past the Clockwork. "She began counting, when she reached five Shadow's Claw ran through the somewhat calmer group of clockwork. All of the robots now fired their electric bolts at the black skinned hero. He used his healing power as he ran through the mob. Just as Shadow's Claw was in the mist of the group of foes, Blue Electra fired her most deadly attack, an electric bolt that shocked the entire group.

The Clockwork ran toward Blue Electra, and readied electric attacks of their own. Blue Electra backed up. She wanted to stay just outside their range. She could hear the Circle of Thorn villains they had been running from behind her. They would be close enough to fire their ranged attacks soon.

Shadow's Claw continued to run down the path even as the clockwork ran in the opposite direction, toward Blue Electra. Once around a corner he stopped running and focused his mind on Blue Electra. He began to chant: "Blue Electra, I grant you now passage through the Darkness Realm! Shadow's Claw summons you!"

Blue Electra stood nervously between the two sets of enemies. She knew that in a second, both of them would be close enough to kill her. The C.O.T. villains caught sight of the electric blaster and fired their arrows and their spells. The clockwork too fired their electric attacks at the hero. She closed her eyes and braced herself. This was it.

"Shadow," she cried out nervously, just as she was teleported away from the enemies and safely in front of Shadow's Claw. The attacks of the C.O.T hit the approaching clockwork and the clockwork's attacks shocked the C.O.T. The two enemies began to fight each other, and forgot all about the heroes that had tricked them.

"That was a pretty brave plan. You took a BIG risk to be such a little hero." Shadow's Claw joked at the 5'4" Blue Electra.

She smiled.

"Yeah, next time you'll be the bait."

The team ran until they could see the exit to the woods and the pond just ahead. However, as they had feared, a group of Hydra roamed near the forest exit.

"Are we ever gonna catch a break today?" Sayber fussed.

"We have worst problems than even the Hydra." Lord Freyr said. "It's hard to see it from here, but I think I see some sort of green force field over the pond." The heroes all strained their eyes and they could all soon confirm he was right. It was as if the ceiling of the forest stretched over the pond.

"What do you think it is?" Amathyst asked.

"Well, the Circle knows if we get to the pond we can fly out of here." Lord Freyr explained. "My guess is that force field will prevent us from flying out. Just like this forest canopy keeps us trapped in here."

"I didn't know they could do that!" Shadow's Claw said. "Yet, they've been doing a lot of strange things today."

"Well, we know it's not a natural thing." Amathyst said. "We must find out how they are forming this thing and take it out."

"First, thing first though." Sayber added, "How do we get past these Hydra?"

The Hydra were giant blob like monsters that lived in the pond. They seemed to be mindless creatures that roamed aimlessly through the water. Nevertheless, they were very, very powerful.

"Well, they seem to be kinda making their way toward the middle of the pond. Maybe if we wait here awhile they will leave," suggested Shadow's Claw.

"Cool with me!" said Sayber. "I'll just sit here and look into the eyes of the most beautiful hero in the world."

Amathyst smiled. It had been a stressful day. She could not remember the last time she had seen a hero die on a mission, much less three. Even now, it seemed that their enemies were ready for them. How could the Circle create a force field over the whole pond! She tried to comfort herself by looking at Sayber. He always seemed calm and carefree even in the worst of situations. I guess that was why she was the leader, she laughed to herself. Some things have to be taken seriously. Still, she was happy to have someone beside her who could always make her smile, no matter what.

Suddenly, Amathyst felt horrible chill run through her body. She stood.

"Did you guys feel that?" She asked.

"Yeah," Lord Freyr answered as the rest of the team stood and readied themselves.

"It's coming from behind us?" Blue Electra added as she backed toward the exit of the woods.

With out warning dozens of ghostly Spectral Knights appeared before them. The evil minions had approached without being heard (Ghosts do not have footsteps to hear). A Daemon Lord cast a stun spell on Blue Electra. She stood in pain as the evil magic temporarily shut down her nervous system.

"No!" shouted Shadow's Claw and he extended his death dealing claws. He jumped in the air and slashed one of the wings of the ghostly demon. Five Spectral Knights rushed the enraged hero and knocked him to the ground.

"We've got to go now!" Sayber shouted as he swung his sword at the swarm of evil ghosts. Many of the Hydra had moved away from the forest exit. Yet, the remaining Hydra were more than enough to kill the entire team. However, the Hydra were not looking for the team. There was a good chance that many of the Hydra would ignore them totally. That was their only hope. It was obvious that the team could not defeat the ghosts that surrounded them.

Shadow's Claw rose quickly to defend himself. He slashed two of the attackers as the other three phased so they could not be touched. He looked for Blue Electra. The Daemon Lord and ten of his Spectral Knight minions surrounded her. She was finished. He wanted to jump in the middle of those cowards and defend her. Yet, it was already too late; he heard Blue Electra moan on last time before the ghosted killed her. This was too much! Too many people he cared for had died before his eyes. He did not know if he could leave again. How could he leave? How could he run from the very ones that had killed his friends? He would not run, he decided! He would die trying to avenge his teammates!

The three Spectral Knights that phased returned now with ten more Spectral Knights and a Daemon Lord.

"Bring it on!" Shadow's Claw cried out.

He attacked the first three fiercely, killing two and injuring the third badly. The other ten surrounded him and began beating him. Shadow's claw felt no pain even as the life was being beat out of him. He finished the third Knight of the first set and defeated two of the set of ten before he jumped away from his attackers and healed himself.

The Daemon and the eight remaining Spectral Knights flew toward him. Shadow attacked the Daemon with all he had and injured it badly but not before getting hurt badly himself. Two of the Spectral Knights tried to cast a hold spell on him just as Amathyst destroyed them with her sword.

Her beautiful eyes gazed at him from over her purple veil.

"We've got to go, babe!" she said simply.

He made no reply. He took one more look at the forest. Then he retracted his claws. Amathyst noticed his body language and she ran for the exit, certain her new recruit would follower her.

Sayber and Lord Freyr had already left the woods. The Hydra had noticed them and burned them considerably with their toxic venom. Yet, they had survived. Amathyst and Shadow's Claw had similar luck. Many of the Hydra ignored them, only two seemed to attack with their deadly venom. Still, two Hydra were enough to bring the two heroes within an inch of life, but they survived.

Lord Freyr had already tried to fly now that he was not under the forest canopy. However, just as he thought, the green force field prevented him. The heroes ran along a thin strip of land that lied between the edge of the forest and the pond. Behind them, the ghostly Circle of Thorns flew from the woods and gave chase. However, the heroes were much faster, and they left the villains far behind. Though the ghosts continued to purse, the heroes knew they were out of danger for the moment.

"I have a friend that hunts in this part of the park a lot." Lord Freyr said as they ran. "We should run into him soon. I hope."

"Even with help," Sayber said, "We'll never be able to beat them all. We've got to get out of this damn park. If we could just find...ah ha!" He said as he stopped running.

"What?" Amathyst asked as the team stopped.

"I've been trying to find the source of this force field," Sayber replied, "And I just found it," he said pointing to a group of ten Circle of Thorn mage's on the other side of the pond. The Mages were in a circle. In the middle of them was an eerie green light, which shot up in the air and over the pond.

"Alright," Shadow's Claw said. "Let's do this."

"No, look between us and the Mages," Sayber said, now pointing to a group of 50 Circle of Thorns in the middle of the pond. Never had the Circle ever been in the pond. "I bet those guys are there to prevent anyone from getting to the mages. So, I say we all attack them and then you guys run. While they chase you I'll got take out the Mages."

"No, Sayber! That's crazy." Amathyst plead. "We'll all go together!"

"Amathyst, you know we can't all fight or even run through that group." He answered.

"But there are ten mages! You won't be able to beat them all." She said visibly upset.

"The mages are making the force field so they can't attack me. If they stop and attack the force field will drop and I'll jump out of here! So either way I'll be ok." Sayber said with confidence. "Don't worry; I'm not trying to die here!" He laughed. "I'm not one of those heroes."

"Yeah," Shadow's Claw agreed, "You're one of those saving the day now and drinking beer laughing about it tomorrow type of heroes."

"Hell yeah!" Sayber laughed.

Amathyst looked at her man hard. Why did he do that! It was so brave! She loved his bravery. However, she hated his cockiness, didn't he realize how dangerous this was! What would she do if he died? If they were going to die in the damn park, they should at least be together.

Shadow's Claw seemed to since his leaders despair.

"Hey, Sayber, I can take out the mages. You need to stay with your girl." He volunteered.

"No, Shadow," Sayber replied. "I appreciate what you are trying to do but I want to do it. First, it's my idea. That means if I'm wrong and this doesn't work, I'll be the one to die. Second, and don't take this the wrong way but, our only chance to get out of here is to take that field down. And I'd be really, really pissed at you if you try to take down the force field and die. That would mean we all die. The only way I can be sure Ama will live through this is to make sure the field is taken down. Which means I must do it myself."

Amathyst fell to her knees and began to cry. The situation was so desperate! Sayber was actually being serious. Sayber walked to his beautiful girl friend and pulled her off her knees.

"Although, I love you on your knees baby," he said. "I need you on your feet now." Before she could reply his kissed her with all the love and passion, he had. He held close in his strong arms until her fears fell away.

The ghosts that pursed them had gained much ground. They had to work fast. The team prepared to attack the 50 mage defenders and then to run.

"Shadow, there is one thing I need you to do for me though." Sayber said just before the attack. "Take care of Ama. Make sure she gets out of here alive, no matter what."

"I promise," was the former demons reply.

They ran toward the 50 Circle of Thorns and attacked. The team killed only two minions before they began to run away. They quickly lost track of Sayber in the battle. They prayed he could make it. The three remaining heroes were able to out pace the 48 Thorn villains that behind them. However, 15 of the ghosts that had chased them out of the woods were able to catch up to them.

The ghosts fired their spells at the backs of the heroes. A Daemon's hold spell hit Amathyst in the back. Immediately, she froze as the spell halted her nervous system.

"NOOOO! Ama!" Shadow's Claw cried out as he stopped to defend his leader. "Freyr, run! TP (short for teleport) Ama out of here!" He said.

Freyr continued to run as the former demon called for his claws. He stepped in front of Amathyst as the Daemon flew toward him. The hero slashed the demon ghost, three times before it slashed him back. Three Spectral Knights approached and each one hit Shadow's Claw. The hero healed himself.

Another Daemon Lord hit Shadow's Claw from behind and knocked him down. It then turned its attention to the defenseless Amathyst. The hero rose himself and attacked the cowardly lieutenant, but not before it had slashed Amathyst twice. The Daemon fell to the ground dead, but the first Daemon was able to hit Shadow's Claw from behind this time. Again, the hero hit the ground.

His vision dimmed, he realized his health was leaving him. It would take another minute of rest before he could heal himself again. He knew he did not have that long. Amathyst seem to be awakening from her spell, but she'd been hurt badly by the Daemon, not to mention the Spectral Knights who punched and scratched her as they circled the two heroes.

Another Daemon reached them and fired another hold spell on Amathyst ensuring she would not wake up in time to help Shadow's Claw. He rose only to be knocked to the ground by the new Daemon. Shadow's Claw looked up at his frozen friend. Sadness filled him. Suddenly, she vanished from his eyes. Shadow's Claw smiled. Lord Freyr had teleported her safely away. However, there would be a few seconds before Lord Freyr would be able to teleport him.

Shadow's Claw arose again and dodged the two Daemon's attacks. He began to run with all his strength. He could not take another attack. He heard the sound of a spell approaching him. He closed his eyes, just before it hit. Before the death-dealing spell hit him, Lord Freyr snatched Shadow's Claw to safety with his teleport power.

"Thanks man," Shadow's Claw said.

The three were on the other side of the pond, right by the other wall of Perez Park. As soon as Sayber dropped the force field, they could jump or fly over the wall and head toward the meeting room.

"No problem." Lord Freyr replied. "Sorry that took so long. I wanted to make sure we were far away from the circle. I was also hoping my friend would be over here somewhere."

"Yeah, good move." Shadow's Claw replied, as he knelt down to rest and to heal his injuries. "I'm sure the circle won't be able to find us here for awhile."

"They won't find you!" A mean and evil voice said behind them. "But we have."

Lord Freyr and Shadow's Claw turned to see a Hellion boss, and 24 minions behind him. "Kill the healer first, then the ugly one." He laughed. "Save the girl for last."

If Amathyst was not under a spell, and even if Shadow's Claw were at full strength; it would be next to impossible to beat these Hellions. With the situation as it was, victory would be impossible.


End file.
